Late, great Marquette coach Al McGuire used to refer to a team’s talented big man as an “aircraft carrier.” Alyssa Rice was all that last night in showing why she will play in the McDonald’s All American game.

Rice had 25 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots, and her Reynoldsburg teammates combined to make seven three-pointers in a 60-32 victory over Northland in a Division I regional semifinal at Otterbein.

The Raiders (23-4), who moved to within one victory of reaching their third state tournament, shut out the Vikings 21-0 in the third quarter.

The most dominant player on the court was Rice. She scored the team’s first 14 points on a variety of reverse pivots, short turnaround jumpers and power drives to the basket.

“Alyssa was awesome,” coach Jack Purtell said. “As the season has progressed, she has been more patient when she gets double-teamed. She assesses the situation. She was pretty unbelievable tonight.”

It was difficult getting Rice, a 6-foot-3 senior who has signed with Kentucky, to talk about herself. It was just as important to her that she choose a university before the season for the sake of her high-school team, than it was for her future.The sting of Reynoldsburg losing in the regional semifinals in 2013 has lingered.

“I did know this is one-and-done, and I wasn’t ready for the season to be over,” she said. “My teammates were getting me the ball in a good position. I also took what the defense was giving me.”

Despite that dominance, Reynoldsburg led just 20-15 at halftime because Northland senior guard Brooklynn Peterson also didn’t want her season to end. Peterson almost singlehandedly got the Vikings (23-3) back into the game with a driving layup, short bank shot and three free throws to make it 17-15 with 1:08 left in the second quarter.

The second half was a different story. Courtney Purtell hit two three-pointers and Nicole Orr one, and Rice had a three-point play and follow to make it 34-15 just 3:37 into the third quarter.

Purtell, a junior guard, took advantage of a zone defense. She also got a little inspiration.

“The first half was rough for me,” she said. “At halftime, one of our assistant coaches told me to just shoot it. When they went zone, we got happy because we have a lot of shooters. When we hit those shots, our energy went up.”

Jack Purtell told the players at halftime that rebounding and getting loose balls would be the difference between winning and losing.

“We outrebounded them 41-25,” he said. The Raiders also had eight steals.

This is the fifth straight regional for Reynoldsburg, and the experience of playing yet another game at the Rike Center was apparent.

“You know what?” Jack Purtell said. “They rattled us in the first half. Their pressure affected us. Then we hit those shots and put pressure on their defense.”